Thursday, July 28, 2011

Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Photo by Yours Truly (I think it's safe to say I wasn't meant to be a food photographer).

I have been trying desperately to go off of refined sugar. I did really well for 5 days this week. But today, I broke down and had a churro (or two). I did find a pretty great and REALLY easy recipe for some Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies on a blog called Mid Leap: Tales of a Wandering Lesbian. I'm sharing it with you here because it's cheaper to make, lower in fat, lower in sugar and pretty much Vegan (and the cookies are still yummy). In return, I'm hoping you'll give me some good recipes for treats made with Agave Nectar (or any other natural sweetener). Pretty please?

No-Sugar Peanut Butter Chocolate-Chip Cookies:
- 1 cup natural style nut butter. I use unsalted peanut but you could use salted if you like better (you can also use almond)

- put 2 tablespoons of water in a 2/3 cup measure. Add agave syrup to fill the 2/3 measure (I prefer dark, but light works too)
- 1 generous tsp vanilla

- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (For wheat-free, sub barley flower, or oat. For gluten-free sub quinoa flour.)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt

- About 3/4 cup grain sweetened chocolate chips – or dark chocolate chips if you can’t find grain sweetened

Oven to 350 degrees, parchment paper on two cookie sheets (or butter them, or use nothing at all). Mix wet ingredients in mixer, add dry ingredients, beat until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Make balls with heaping Tbsp of dough, then squish with a wet fork to get the traditional pattern. I use all the dough to make 12 cookies. I bake Exactly 10 minutes if I want them chewy. (These are easy to overcook due to their color – so watch closely, and take out when they are just barely browning on top. Maybe start with 8 mins and check the underside of one cookie, just to be safe. For barley, oat or quinoa, you might want to bake longer.)



10 comments:

  1. Thank you dear Mindy for this wonderful recipe I'd love to make but in France we don't find all the mentioned ingredients... I will make it anyway with what we can get here. I love those cookies and made some really yummy ones very recently, to impress Jacques' cousins who enjoyed them a lot, but with the mix sent by Di! As here, nothing like it exists...
    Lots of love from Aix enProvence.

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  2. These are our favorite cookies!

    BANANA OATMEAL COOKIES

    These moist cookies contain no sweeteners, butter, eggs, or wheat.

    2 cups rolled oats

    2/3 cup almonds

    1 teaspoon baking powder

    1/4 teaspoon sea salt

    1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

    1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

    1 1/2 cups mashed banana (about 3 bananas)

    1/4 cup oil

    1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

    3/4 cup raisins

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a cookie sheet. Grind oats and almonds to a coarse powder in food processor or blender. Pour them into a large mixing bowl. Stir in baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In separate bowl or in food processor, beat together bananas, oil, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add banana mixture and raisins to oat mixture. Mix well. Drop cookie dough by tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 13 to 16 minutes, or until bottoms are golden brown.

    Yield: 3 dozen

    Variation: Carob or chocolate chips can be substituted for raisins if desired.

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  3. What if I use White Flour instead of whole wheat pastry flour?

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  4. I think you could use Agave in this without too much trouble. Its tropical fruity, cool and refreshing. Takes about 15 minutes to make.


    Pomegranate and Guava Float
    by Salatat al-rumman wil Jawafa
    Serves 8

    20 guavas, peeled and cut in chunks
    5 TBS lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
    8 TBS sugar
    4-6 large bananas
    2 pomegranates

    Put the guava chunks, lemon juice, sugar and 4 cups of iced water in a blender. Process for 2 minutes. Pour the mixture through a strainer to remove the guava seeds. Ladle the guava puree into bowls. In each bowl put large 2-3” slices of banana and 1 TBS pomegranate seeds.

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  5. Creamy Chocolate-berry smoothie

    Blend until smooth
    1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries
    1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt (or original
    yogurt)
    1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
    1 tbsp. agave nectar

    I haven't tried it with any other fruit but im sure it would taste just as delicious!

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  6. Dear Mindy,

    My comment doesn't have anything to do with cookies, I just wanted to say that I'm glad that I found your blog. I have all your songs on my phone, and eveywhere I do, there's your sweet and lovely voice with me.

    Sends you a million fairy kisses,
    Lili xxx

    P.S. Your chocolotae chip cookies look so yummy. ^o^

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  7. Hi Mindy! I emailed you some recipes. Hope you enjoy.

    -Jana

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  8. Kefir Smoothie:

    1 cup kefir
    1 cup frozen fruit (I like strawberries, blueberries, & 1/2 a banana)
    1 TBSP Agave Nectar

    Blend well in blender. It's delicious...even my kids LOVE it (& it's healthy)!

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  9. Raw Melissa has amazing treat recipes with agave. Her book is fabulous too. My favorite is her key lime pie sold at Ginger's cafe. Her website has some of her recipes on it. Congrats on your new baby and eating more healthy! I'm so addicted to sugar.

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  10. I have a vegan friend coming over who also doesn't eat refuned sugar! This seems perfect! Has anyone tried it out? Do they need tweaking? Thanks!

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